According to the self-proclaimed republic's defense ministry, Donetsk airport has been shelled from a 82-mm caliber mortar

MOSCOW, October 15. /TASS/. The Ukrainian forces have shelled the territory of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) two times over the past 24 hours, the DPR defense ministry reported on Thursday.

"The situation in the Donetsk people’s republic was tense over the past 24 hours. The Ukrainian criminals have two times violated the ceasefire regime," the Donetsk news agency quotes a DPR defense official as saying.

According to the ministry, Donetsk airport has been shelled from a 82-mm caliber mortar. And a grenade launcher fire was opened on the settlement of the mine 6/7 from Mayorsk on the outskirts of Gorlovka.

Gorlovka city administration head Roman Khramenkov said earlier on Thursday that a dwelling house was damaged in the northern part of the city as a result of the night shelling by the Ukrainian military.

Kiev and representatives of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk agreed at talks in Minsk, Belarus, on August 26 to end shelling from September 1, the day the new school year was to begin. The ceasefire has been generally observed since then. There has been only one crude violation of the truce when late at night on September 4, the village of Alexandrovka, in Donetsk’s Petrovsk district, came under shelling which killed one civilian and injured two others. In addition, one civilian was wounded as the Ukrainian forces opened fire on the city’s Petrovsk district on September 30.

Comprehensive ceasefires have been declared twice over the past year, but sporadic clashes between the two forces continued. Both sides have blamed the other for the violations.

A February 12 peace deal struck in Minsk, Belarus, by leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France envisaged a ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and people’s militias starting from February 15. This was to be followed by withdrawal of heavy weapons over 100 mm calibre from the line of military engagement by at least 15 kilometres (9 miles), prisoner release and agreement for international observers to monitor the truce.

Based on September’s stillborn Minsk peace protocol, the deal also laid out a road map for a lasting settlement in Ukraine, including local elections and constitutional reform to give the war-torn eastern regions more autonomy.